Friday, January 18, 2013

The handiest of Chest of Drawers



I was given two sets of small chest of drawers. They looked fine, but were quite wobbly, and well, didn't fit in anywhere properly. So, I turned them into several things...





After looking at the chest of drawers for 2 days in the middle of the sitting room floor, I decided they were only fit for the garden and would convert them into veg and flower beds.

I've been living in my house now for over 2 years, and have barely touched the garden. I was doing the 'permaculture' thing, observing, instead of getting stuck in straight away. And just as well I did, as the garden, over the past year, has turned into a bog. There is no drainage, the ground is just too wet, so before starting the garden seriously, I decided I would just have to build raised beds, everywhere.  I've been gathering wood, from skips mostly, and had planned to build the beds from these.



Instead of hammering and sawing, and hammering again, all I did, was kick out the bottom of the drawers and the back of the chest itself, and hey presto, raised beds! They work great. You can pick these up free on sites such as Jumbletown or Freecycle, or fairly cheap in auctions and house clearances. So I'm now on the look out for more.


All the plants are still in pots, but hopefully I have it all ready for the new growing season. I've planted up a lavender hedge too. Surprisingly that seems to be doing OK, despite the lack of sun and lots of rain. I'll take a nice pic of the garden project when its completed, during the summer, when it looks all blooming and edible...


I kept the bottom of the bases, knowing they'd come in handy and indeed they did! I turned these into signposts and boxes, props for the Tralee Circus Festival.


I love curiosity boxes and have always wanted to make some. Just using a Stanley knife, wood glue and some dark varnish, I was able to make 2 boxes. I haven't finished filling these yet, but its a great way of displaying some if the knickknacks I cant throw out!




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